News

Dr. Sara Rapic and Tim Samuel are awarded a full travel grant to attend the São Paulo School of Advanced Science on Modern Topics in Biophotonics. The event will be held University of São Paulo campus in São Carlos, Brazil, March 20-29, 2019 and is based on courses on advanced biophotonics research themes, such as applications of light for diagnosis, cancer treatment and microbial control. The scope of the conference covers both scientific advances and technological applications. Excitingly, our research on investigating the radiation response of pancreatic tumors and their microenvironment was selected for a “pitch deck” presentation at the conference.

Helen Jin joined the DaCosta lab in January 2019. She received her bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences from Yale-NUS College (Singapore). Currently, she is a Medical Biophysics M.Sc. Candidate at the University of Toronto. Her project focuses on investigating the interaction of acute myeloid leukemia with the bone marrow microenvironment in order to elucidate new therapeutic targets through in vivo imaging. This project is funded by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada in collaboration with Dr. Mark Minden at the Princess Margaret Hospital.

Dr. Shirley Chi-Tyan Wang joined the DaCosta lab as a Clinical Research Coordinator in June 2018. She completed a double major at the University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada) in Health Sciences and English Literature, and obtained her medical degree at the Ross University School of Medicine (Portsmouth, Dominica). She is the coordinator of our Phase III randomized control trial testing the therapeutic benefit of a handheld fluorescence imaging device that detects bacterial autofluorescence in diabetic foot wounds in real-time and at the point-of-care.

The DaCosta lab congratulates PhD candidate Niloufar Khosravi on receiving the Osseointegration Foundation student travel grant. Her abstract titled “A Close Look at Peri-implant Endosseous Wound Healing Inside the Living Body in Real-Time” was selected for the stipend after receiving the top scores of student-submitted research for the annual Academy of Osseointegration Meeting held March 13 – 16, 2019 in Washington, DC.

MSc candidate Christopher Gibson presented his graduate research at PEMED 2018: International Conference on Personalized and Precision Medicine in Paris, France. He won the most outstanding abstract award for his presentation entitled “Development and clinical translation of a new handheld imaging device for 5-ALA-induced fluorescence guided breast conserving surgery.” View the Abstract

A University of Toronto team from the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) discovered that nano-scale surface topology matters when it comes to vascularization of bone implants. They compared two titanium implants of the same chemical composition and varied only their surfaces at the nano scale. One was smooth and the other was rough and nano-patterned. View the Full Article

PhD candidate Niloufar Khosravi, Dr. Ralph DaCosta and IBBME Professor John Davies publish in Nature Communications Biology today. The article describes their research on the effects of surface texture of surgical implants on healing and  neovascularization. An interview with the team can be found on the IBBME website.

MSc candidate Christopher Gibson wins travel award from the University of Toronto to attend the Personalized and Precision Medicine International Conference.  This conference will take place June 25-27. Christopher will be presenting on ongoing clinical research and biomedical device development. View the Conference Website

PhD candidate, Niloufar Khosravi, attended the Canadian Biomaterials Society annual meeting in Victoria, BC on May 16-19, 2018, winning the award for best oral presentation.  A copy of her abstract can be found on the CBS website. View the Abstract

StartupHERE Toronto recently featured Dr. DaCosta and the invention of his device, the MolecuLight i:X. In his interview, Dr. DaCosta reminisces on how a 3am idea led to the development of his business, MolecuLight, and how this process was fostered by the Toronto health care community. To read more visit: Toronto’s MolecuLight Gives Clinicians the Ability to see Bacteria in Wounds. View Article